¡®An overdose of Yellow Peril¡¯

[NZBC]

In 1920 an Auckland police officer¡¯s report on a Chinese applicant for naturalisation revealed the depth of anti-Chinese prejudice in New Zealand:

¡®I respectfully report that all Chinese look alike to me, or nearly so, and unless Mr Young Sing Kow presents himself for identification I would not be able to say whether I knew him, or not. In any case I would not report favourably on such a person, no matter what his qualifications were, as I am of the opinion that we are getting an overdose of Yellow Peril.¡¯1

[NZBC]

Chinese people had to continue to pay this fee after it was abolished for all other applicants in the 1890s. They were denied naturalisation (or even permanent residence) between 1908 and 1951. Through that period, Chinese residents in New Zealand had to apply periodically for permission to stay. Nevertheless, during the Second World War resident Chinese were conscripted into the armed forces. After Chinese immigrants were allowed to become citizens, only 20 of the first 400 applicants for naturalisation ¨C ¡®the most highly assimilated [and educated] types¡¯ ¨C were accepted. Because of suspicion about their allegiance following the Communist victory in China, Chinese people, unlike others seeking citizenship, had for some years to renounce their previous nationality and show that they were ¡®closer to the New Zealand way of life than to the Chinese¡¯.2

www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealanders/NewZealandPeoples/Citizenship/1/en